The Joy of Pokemon
by Hakuhunter
Summary: Caleb Joy of the Joy family had always wanted to go on a journey, but he never got around to it. But an unexpected stay at Professor Oak's lab makes Caleb want to do it more than ever. So follow him and his chansey as they travel around Kanto, battle trainers, compete in gyms, get into conflict with Team Rocket, and, most importantly, making friends with lots of Pokemon.
1. The Start

**Greetings and salutations. Welcome to The Joy of Pokemon. First off, I'd like to thank you for reading this story. I know that there have been lots of these kind of story's, so I'd like to thank you for checking out mine instead of the other 20,000 that are out there. I hope that my protagonist will be unique enough to make this one stand out. Alright, you don't want to hear me ramble on any longer, so I'll let you read. Enjoy.**

* * *

The man who sat in the chair wasn't the skinniest of people; he'd be the first to admit it. Becoming old had taken its toll as his metabolism had slowed down and he was eating more. He had tried many different programs to help him exercise and get into shape, but he didn't have the patience or the virtue to stay with one of them long enough for it to make a difference. So, he had just let himself go for the most part.

The man looked up from his newspaper and down the road. No one was coming, so he continued reading the newspaper that was in his hands.

" **Team Rocket Nugget Bridge Scandal!"** is what the headline read. The man let out a deep sigh as he scratched his beard.

"Seems like not a day goes by without Team Rocket being in the news," he said to himself. He checked his watch. It read 7:42.

"Caleb needs to hurry if he wants to deliver this package before nightfall," the man said, referring to the package he had in his lap. He flipped the page of the newspaper and started to read an article about how new technology was being developed by the Devon Corporation in the Hoenn region. Things like devices that allowed you to talk to Pokemon and new types of Pokeballs. It wasn't going very well, however, and they haven't had much success.

The man looked up when he heard the engine of a truck approaching him on the road. He folded the newspaper and laid it on the ground. He picked up the package and stood up, waiting for the delivery truck to stop where he was.

The truck slowly came into a halt, stopping a little bit away from the man, so he had to walk a few steps to make up the difference.

On the side of the truck were big letters that read, " **Pidgeot Express"** and a stylized drawing of a pidgeot.

The window on the driver's side rolled down to reveal a boy about seventeen years old. He didn't have anything special on, just a pink t-shirt with an egg on the front and some blue jeans.

The boy named Caleb put one of his arms out of the vehicle.

"How many more?" he asked.

"This is the last one, Mr. Joy," the man said as he passed it up to him. "and it's small enough to fit in the front."

"Alright then," Caleb said as he took the box and put it next to his seat. He brushed away his pink hair away from his face. "Where is this one going?"

"Down in Pallet Town, at Prof. Oak's lab."

"Really?" Caleb had always wanted to go to the famous Professor Oak's lab, but he never had any reason to.

"Yup, but you'll need to leave right away if you want to get back before sundown."

"Gotcha."

The man heard the door of the passenger side open. Around the front of the truck came a large, pink, oval shaped pokemon with an egg in a pouch on its stomach. In its hands was a flower.

" _Chansey!"_ the pokemon said as it gave the flower over the the man.

"Chansey found a flower near the pokecenter and wanted to give it to you," Caleb explained.

"Well…thank you," the man said surprised while taking the flower.

" _Chansey,"_ Chansey said with a big smile. She turned around and went back over to the other side of the truck, hopped back into it and closed the door.

"Well, I'll see you around," Caleb said as a farewell and rolled up his window. He put his foot down on the gas and drove away from the delivery station.

The man, now done with his work, pick up his newspaper and started to head home.

* * *

Caleb looked into the rear view mirror, not to see what was behind him, but to look at his own face. He licked one of his fingers and slid it down on a section of his hair that wasn't straight. Caleb wanted to look as good as possible if he was going to be able to meet the famous Professor Oak in person.

He looked again at his hair and, to his dismay, saw that it had almost all been ruffled up by the end of the day and he didn't bring a comb with him.

"Guess that will have to do."

When most people see Caleb, the first thing they noticed was his very strange hair color. They were always surprised that someone like him would want to dye his hair color that way, but they were even more surprised when he told them that it was natural and that he got the color from his mother.

Caleb could have dyed his hair a more 'manly' color, but he was fine with it. It didn't bother him too much. And no one gave him slack for it when he explained that he was part of the Joy family.

Caleb took his eyes off the road for a second to look over at the passenger seat, where his first and only pokemon was. She was staring out of the window, observing everything that was passing by. They didn't get to go to Pallet Town often so all the surroundings were fairly new to her, and she was taking it all in.

Caleb had gotten Chansey when he was young. Usually, when Joy's would take over a Pokemon center, a Chansey that had graduated from a nursing school would be assigned to them. But because Caleb couldn't become a nurse and didn't want to become a doctor, his family had gotten him a chansey from a Pokemon shelter, and they had been together ever since. Caleb put his eyes back on the road. He was getting into the part of the road that was covered with bumps and ledges so he needed to pay attention.

Caleb now worked for the Pidgeot Express, which was a package delivery company that worked all over Kanto. He did the boring job of driving around and taking the packages to the people who needed them. He didn't even go on long trips either. He only delivered around Viridian City and sometimes to Pallet Town.

After a while Caleb got through the hard part of the road.

 _That's going to be hard to drive at night_ Caleb thought. Wanting to take his mind off of the driving, Caleb thought of something to talk about.

"So, Chansey," he started.

" _Chansey?_ "

"I was reading some Pokemon jokes the other day, and I found one I think you'd like. Do you want to hear it?"

" _Chansey,_ " she nodded.

"Okay. So what did the geodude say to the rhyhorn when it evolved?"

" _Chansey?_ "

"Ride on, dude!"

Chansey's smile grew bigger when she got the joke.

" _Chansey!"_ she laughed with her arms in the air.

Caleb knew it was bad, but it made Chansey happy.

After about a half-hour more of driving and a few more jokes, Caleb drove into the town of Pallet. There was a sign that welcomed visitors saying: "Welcome to Pallet town, where shades of your journey await."

It didn't take long for Caleb to find the lab since it was on a hill in the middle of town with a large windmill on it.

Caleb parked his truck below the hill, took the package, and got out of the truck. Chansey followed suit. Caleb looked across the horizon to see that the sun was already setting.

"So much for getting back before sundown."

" _Chansey._ "

Caleb and Chansey ran up the steps the led up the hill, but immediately regretted it when they reached the top. Well, at least, Caleb did. Chancey looked like she had fun and wasn't tired at all.

After Caleb had gotten his breath back, he went up to the door and rang the doorbell. Caleb was so excited that he would be meeting Professor Oak finally.

But it wasn't Professor Oak who opened the door. The boy who opened the door was a lot younger than Caleb was. He had black hair with a red bandana on his forehead. He had a green shirt on and red shorts.

"I have a package for Professor Oak," Caleb said, disappointed that he wouldn't meet Professor Oak in person.

"Oh, he's not here right now, but I'll give it to him when he gets back. Thanks!" The boy took the package out of Caleb's hands.

Caleb, now knowing that he would have no chance of even getting a glimpse of the Professor, turned around and headed back to his truck.

"Excuse me," the boy's voice came from behind Caleb, "but are you going to drive back to Viridian City in the dark? The road is very dangerous already, but it's even more frightful in the dark."

"I know, but it's not like I can stay here in Pallet town. I don't have any money to rent a hotel or even a cabin for the night."

"Well, I know! Why don't you stay here?" the boy said.

"Really?"

"Sure. I know Professor Oak won't mind, and we have a guest room, so why don't you come in."

"Well, that's very nice of you, thanks."

" _Chansey!_ " Chansey agreed.

Caleb turn back around and walked into the lab, the boy closed the door behind him.

"Here, let me show you to your room," the boy said and led him down a hallway.

"Are you sure this is alright? It just doesn't feel kosher," Caleb asked.

"Of course it is. We have visitors over here all the time. That's why we have a guest room."

"I'm sorry, but I don't think I caught your name."

"I'm Tracy," the boy introduced himself, "and I'm Proffesor Oak's assistant. Nice to meet you."

"Likewise. I'm Caleb and this is my Chancey," Caleb said, pointing to his pokemon.

" _Chansey!_ " she said as a greeting.

"That's cool that you have a Chansey! I've rarely seen ones that aren't nurses. Are you a trainer perhaps?" Tracy asked enthusiastically.

"No, I'm not. I may become a trainer some day. I've always thought it would be nice to travel all around the Kanto Region. It must be really cool being Proffesor Oak's assistant," Caleb went back to their conversation.

"It is. It can be hard work, though, taking care of all of the pokemon that people leave here."

"I can imagine."

" _Chan-sey,_ " Chansey agreed.

The two arrived at a door at the end of a hallway.

"This is where you will be staying," Tracey explained.

"Thank you." Caleb then remembered something that he had to do. "Um…do you have a videophone I could use? I need to use one to tell my mother that I won't be home tonight so she doesn't worry about me. I forgot my cell phone at home."

"Of course. It's this way; follow me." Tracey led Caleb and Chancey through the Lab to a living room-like area. It had a few couches and chairs and a glass coffee table in the middle. The coffee table had lots of notebooks and sketchpads on it. In the corner was a videophone.

"Here it is. Feel free to use it as long as you like."

"Thanks, Tracey."

"Don't mention it!"

Tracey went over to one of the couches and picked up a red sketchbook and started to draw in it.

Caleb picked up the phone and dialed the Pokecenter in Viridian City. After a few ring tones, the person on the other end pick up the phone. She was wearing the normal Nurse attire that all Nurse Joy's wore with the same hair cut as well.

"Hello, this is the Viridian Pokemon center, how may-" the Nurse Joy on the other end started to say until she saw who was talking to her. "Well, hello there Caleb, why are you calling me?"

"Hi mom. I just wanted to tell you that I'm not going to be home tonight."

"And why's that?"

"My last package was to Professor Oak's lab, and it's very dangerous traveling the road from Viridian to Pallet at night. So, one of Professor Oak's assistants told me that I could stay at the lab for the night instead of coming back."

"Well that's so nice of him. Have you met the Professor yet?"

"No, not yet. He's away right now, but I would really like to meet him in person."

"Alright, I'll tell your father so he won't be worrying. Thanks for the call. Good night, Caleb."

"Good night," Caleb said back and then hung up. He went over to where Chancey and Tracey were on the couch. He wasn't that tired yet, so Caleb decided that he would talk a bit.

"What are you drawing?" he asked.

"Your Chancey," Tracey replied. Chancey was surprised by this and went over to look at the sketch. She smiled once she saw it.

" _Chancey!_ "

"May I see?" Caleb asked.

"Sure." Tracey turned the book around to let Caleb see. It was a sketch, sure, but it was very well done and much better than anything Caleb could ever do.

"That's really good," Caleb complemented him.

"Thanks."

"Could I look at some of your other work?"

"Sure. Go ahead."

Caleb picked up one of the notebooks and started to flip through it. There were many different drawings of pokemon. Pictures of butterfree flying through the sky, of gravelers and golems rolling down a mountain, and of oddish dancing in the moon light.

"Do you go out and travel around to draw these?" Caleb asked.

"Well, I don't anymore, but I used to be a Pokemon Watcher."

"A Pokemon Watcher?"

"See, my primary job as a Pokemon Watcher was to go around and make sure that pokemon habitats were in the right condition and that Pokemon weren't going extinct in areas for whatever reason. In my free time, I would sketch down the Pokemon I watched after. You can think of it kinda like a field scientist."

Caleb kept flipping through the book, looking through other pictures. "It must be fun to travel around, huh?"

"It was. I traveled all around the Orange Archipelago with two of my friends, and we had the best of times."

"Hmmm…"

Caleb heard the door open and close from the entrance.

"Tracey, I'm back," a voice came from the same place.

"We're in the living room," Tracey called out.

Caleb looked over to one of the doorways into the living room and saw a man in his early 50's with a lab coat on enter. He had a few books in his hands.

"Oh, and who do we have here?" Professor Oak asked. Caleb got out from his seat and went over to greet the man.

"Hello, my name is Caleb. This is such an honour to meet you in person."

"Well, it's a pleasure to meet you, too."

"See, Caleb here was delving a package to you, but by the time he got here, it was dark, and you know how treacherous Route 1 can be in the dark. So, I didn't think that you would mind him staying here for the night." Tracey explained.

"That's fine with me," Professor Oak agreed. "By the way, is that your chansey?"

"Yes, she's mine."

" _Chansey!"_ she gave a greeting.

Professor Oak put one of his fingers up. "This calls for a poem!" He cleared his throat. "I think that it is quite fancy; getting a visit from a boy and his chansey!"

" _Chansey!"_ Chansey was pleased.

"I'm glad you liked it!" Professor Oak patted Chansey's head, which made her more happy.

"So what did Ms. Ketchum want talk about?" Tracey asked while putting down his sketchbook.

"Oh, she just wanted to check out some books that I had about the history of capturing Pokemon, so I brought over some books and she borrowed a few of them."

"Ms. Ketchum… why does that name sound familiar…" Caleb pondered

"Maybe you know her son, Ash Ketchum?" Prof. Oak said as he put the books he had in his hands down on the table.

"Yeah…maybe…did he compete in a league at one point?"

"Two. He completed in both the Indigo League and the Silver Conference," Prof. Oak explained.

"He also got into the Orange Island League Hall of Fame. He was one of the friends I talked about earlier," Tracey added.

"That's where I know him!" Caleb exclaimed when he could put his finger on it. "He was the boy I was rooting for at the Indigo League. Too bad about his Charizard."

"Yeah, but that was back then. His Charizard is completely obeying him now," Tracey said. "Well, almost completely," he added.

"Is Ash here, in Pallet town?"

Prof. Oak shook his head. "Ash left for the Hoenn region a while ago. He wants to compete in the Hoenn league."

"Oh, bumber. I would have really liked to meet him. But I did get you meet you today, Prof. Oak, so that's a plus."

"I'm glad it is," Prof. Oak said as he went over and sat next to Tracey. Caleb and Chansey went and sat down on the couch opposite them. "So, Caleb, are you a trainer?" Prof. Oak asked.

"No, but I want to soon. I think it would be a good experience."

"It is. I remember my days as a trainer back way when, but I'm happy to be a Pokemon Professor in my retirement days." Just then, Prof. Oak remembered something. "Caleb, Tracey said that you were delivering a package, where is it?"

"Oh, here it is," Tracey said as he picked it up from the floor he put it on. "I had completely forgotten about it. Sorry."

"Oh, it's fine," Prof. Oak took the package and started to open it. "These must be the Pokedex I ordered for the new trainers that are coming tomorrow." After Prof. Oak opened the parcel, a confused look appeared on his face.

"What's the matter?" Tracey asked while leaning over to look inside the box.

"I only ordered three of them, but there are four in here."

"That's strange," Caleb said.

"Oh well, I'll just have an extra one for now, that's not a big problem."

Chansey let out a yawn, which in turn caused everyone in the room to yawn.

"I think Chansey's got the right idea," Professor Oak joked. "It's getting late, and I'm getting tired."

"Me, too," Caleb agreed. "Alright, Chansey, good night," he said as he took out a pokeball from his belt and returned Chansey to it and then stood up. "Thank you again for letting me stay here."  
"It's nothing; don't mention it." Prof. Oak said as he also stood up. "Good night."

"You, too."

Caleb walked himself to his room and closed the door. He didn't bother changing into anything else, not that he had anything else, and just fell onto his bed and fell asleep.

* * *

While he was sleeping, Caleb dreamed that he was on journey, going around, catching Pokemon and battling gyms, and he loved it. It was the most fun he had had ever. After a while, Caleb woke up to light shining through the window of his room. Caleb became very disappointed when he realized that it was all just a dream.

"But…it doesn't just have to be a dream…" Caleb thought out loud.

Caleb went and ate breakfast in the kitchen. Apparently, Prof. Oak had his own personal cook, who had made French Toast and invited Caleb to eat some. He accepted that offer. He let Chansey out of her pokeball because the cook had made some Pokemon food for her. She started to eat it up while Caleb ate his French toast.

Tracey had already been up and had been feeding all of the Pokemon outside. Professor Oak, however, was still asleep.

Tracey and Caleb talked a bit more while eating, mostly about what Tracey had experienced on his travels and how much fun it had been. After a bit, Caleb knew that he had better get home.

After he thanked the chef for the food and said goodbye to Tracey, Caleb started his truck again and started to head off back to Viridian City.

The ride was mostly silent as Caleb thought about what he was going to do and Chansey just looked out of the window like she always did.

"Hey, Chansey," Caleb broke the silence.

" _Chansey?"_

'Would you want to go on a journey across Kanto?" he asked out of the blue.

Chansey thought about it for a second, and then responded with a _'Chansey'_ which Caleb interpreted as "if you want to."

Eventually, Caleb got back to the Pidgeot Express depot and parked his truck there. He got out and went to his bike that was parked by the building. Bikes cost a lot, and most people couldn't own them, but let's just say that being part of a nursing family has its benefits. Caleb returned Chansey to her Pokeball and started to ride home.

But instead of going home, Caleb rode his bike to the Viridian Pokecenter. He parked it outside the large building. Caleb looked up at the whole thing. It didn't used to be this large, but some time back, an explosion there caused the whole Pokecenter to be rebuilt. Thankfully, no people or Pokemon were hurt. Caleb walked through the automatic doors of the center.

There were lots of people inside the center, some here to get their pokemon healed, some to eat at the restaurant that was here, some people leaving from sleeping here, and some who just used it as a place to get together.

At the counter was a little girl with a pokeball in her hands; she was handing it to the woman behind the counter.

"Nurse Joy, could you make sure my caterpie is feeling well?" she asked as she put the pokeball on the counter.

"Of course I can." Nurse Joy said as she took the pokeball and gave it to her Chansey, who then took it to a back room to be healed. That's when Nurse Joy noticed Caleb.

"Good morning, Caleb! How was Professor Oak's lab?"

"It was awesome, Mom," Caleb said as he approached the counter.

"So what are you doing here?" Caleb's mom asked. Her Chansey came back from the healing room and handed Caleb's mom the pokeball. "Is it all fine?" she asked. The Chansey nodded. Then, she noticed that Caleb was here and a big smile appeared on her face. Caleb knew exactly what she wanted.

"Come on out, Chansey," Caleb said while releasing his Chansey. The second that Chansey got out of its pokeball, she went over and started to talk with Nurse Joy's Chansey. The girl came back over and took her Pokeball from Nurse Joy. "Your Caterpie is just fine. Take good care now."

"You too, Nurse Joy," she said and started to walk away before she saw Caleb out of her peripheral vision. She looked at his hair, confused, but then she looked at Nurse Joy and saw the resemblance. She nodded her head in understanding and then ran out the doors of the center.

"So, why are you here?" Caleb's mom asked again.

"Well, you see…" Caleb said as he scratched the back of his head. _Why am I so afraid to tell her?_ Caleb thought. He took a deep breath.

"I want to go on a Pokemon journey," he blurted out.

Caleb's mom just stared at him for a little. But, to Caleb's surprise, she wasn't mad or even skeptical.

"Well, if that's what you want to do, then I won't stop you," she said.

"Really?"

"Sure. It'll be good for you to go on your own journey. To be honest, I expected that you would have wanted to do it before this point."

Caleb was really excited by this. "So, where do I start?" he asked, slightly embarrassed that he didn't know what to do first.

"Well, first I'll register you on the database," she said as she typed some things into the computer. "There now you're registered. Here is your trainer ID, your badge case, and five pokeballs to start off with." Caleb's mom handed him both an ID that had his name and a few other things on it, as well as a case to hold the badges he earned. Finally, she gave him five empty Pokeballs to catch pokemon with.

"So do I get a starter Pokemon or a Pokedex?" Caleb asked.

Caleb's mom shook her head. "No, only a few trainers a year get picked to have a starter and a pokedex. Professor Oak chooses them himself."

"And he didn't pick me…" Caleb said sadly.

"I didn't?" a voice from the entrance rang out through the building. Everyone in the Pokecenter stopped talking as the man walked further inside.

"Professor Oak?" Caleb was stunned to see him here.

"See, I came up here because you had left my lab before I was able to give you this," he said as he held out his hand. In it was a red device with a blue orb on the front.

"A Pokedex? For me?"

"See, since I had one more than I needed, I decided I would give it to you and try to convince you to become a trainer, but it looks like you didn't need that encouragement. Still, I would like you to have this."

"Thank you," Caleb took the pokedex out of the Prof.'s hands and held it up.

One person in the Pokecenter started to clap. Like it was infectious, more people started to clap until everyone in the center was clapping for Caleb. Eventually, it died down.

"Sadly, I don't have a starter Pokemon to give you, since the three trainers who I already picked are coming around later to pick up theirs," Prof. Oak told Caleb.

"That's alright, Prof. Oak. I already have my starter Pokemon," Caleb said while smiling. Chansey took that as her cue and ran up to Caleb's side.

" _Chansey!"_

This caused Prof. Oak to smile, too. "Well, I'm glad. Do you know how to use that Pokedex?"

"It records data of pokemon you've caught, right?" Caleb said, remembering that he heard something about it.

"Indeed. It can also tell you a quick description of any Pokemon here in the Kanto region when you point it at them. You can also just look them up in the database."

"Cool," Caleb said. He opened it and pointed to Chansey.

" **Chansey, the egg Pokemon.** **A gentle and kind-hearted Pokémon that shares its nutritious eggs if it sees an injured Pokémon."**

"It also tells you the specifics of the Pokemon on the bottom."

Caleb looked back at the Pokedex and saw that there were some things that were written.

Chansey (F)

Wild: No

Ability: Natural Cure

Moves: Defence Curl, Pound, Growl, Tail Whip

"That's so cool."

"One last thing," Prof. Oak said as he handed Caleb a slip of paper with a phone number on it. "This is my number, so if you to ask me something, don't hesitate and give me a call. You better get home and start packing if you want to get an early start," Prof. Oak advised.

"I will right away."

"I'll tell your father that you're going on a journey." Caleb's mom said. "He'll be so proud."

"I bet he will be," Prof. Oak agreed. "Well, I must be going back to my lab now. The new trainers will be here in about an hour, so I need to hurry. Good luck on your journey, Caleb."

"Thank you, I will."

After Prof. Oak left, the whole Pokecenter was back to buzzing. Lots of people came up to Caleb and congratulated him on receiving a Pokedex from the one and only Prof. Oak. Caleb thanked each one of them.

After that, Caleb returned Chansey and ran outside, took his bike, and started to ride home.

* * *

Once he got home, he parked his bike, unlocked the door to his house and started to get ready. He packed a backpack full of all the things he think he'd need. Clothes, potions, canteens, his cell phone, food, and anything else that would fit. Caleb took a shower and then changed into a plain green shirt with black pants. After all this was done, Caleb walked outside, ready to go. Outside, his mother was waiting for him.

"I wanted to say goodbye to you before you left."

"Of course. Is Dad here?"

"No, he had to go into work today because someone else called in sick. He really wishes that he could be here."

"That's fine. I can call him whenever I want."

"So, where are you heading first, Caleb?"

"I think to Pewter City. I believe they have a gym there."

"Alright, you do that. Remember to visit your sister when you get there."

"I will," Caleb said as he hopped onto his bike. "See you, Mom!" he said as he rode off.

Caleb couldn't believe it. He was finally going on a Pokemon journey.

"Look out world, because Caleb Joy is starting his journey today!"

* * *

 **Thank you for reading. I'll have chapter 2 up tomorrow. See ya then!**


	2. Route 2

**Hey guys and welcome to chapter 2. Sorry this wasn't up yesterday, but I had other things to do. Just a note, even though this technically takes place in the 3rd gen, I will be using Pokemon's 6th gen movesets because it's more fun that way. Anyway, for the few people who will read this, enjoy.**

* * *

Caleb rode through Route 2 on his bike as he felt the wind on his face. He took a deep breath of the fresh air. It felt nice.

Along the way, Caleb saw lots of different Pokemon along the road. A flock of Pidgey flew overhead. A group of Caterpie and Weedle were looking at Caleb riding by, and he smiled at them as he passed. He thought about stopping and trying to capture some of them but decided to just ride on. He wasn't trying to complete the Pokedex or become a Pokemon master, just to ride on a journey, competing in Gyms with his Pokemon. He didn't need to catch all the Pokemon he saw.

Suddenly, a Rattata jumped out from a bush and right in front of Caleb's bike. Caleb wasn't able to turn the bike to the side fast enough and the Rattata just stayed there, so Caleb ran right over it. His bike bumped only once, however, meaning that he had only hit it once.

Caleb biked backwards to turn on the brakes. After the bike had skidded to a halt, Caleb jumped off of it and turn around to see the Rattata getting up off the ground after being run over by the bike.

Caleb was relieved to see that he hadn't injured the Rattata. Some people break bones by being run over by bikes, but this Rattata looked just fine.

Once the Rattata was up, it started to run away.

"No, wait, don't leave! I'm sorry!" Caleb shouted after it as it ran into a bush. Caleb let out a sigh. That certainly wasn't the best start to his Pokemon journey. At least he hadn't hurt it. Caleb hopped back on his bike and took a notably slower pace.

Eventually, Caleb got tired from all the biking and decided to stop and eat. He parked his bike next to a tree and took out a sandwich he had packed. He let Chansey out of her Pokeball and gave her some Pokemon food.

After the lunch break, Caleb decided now would be a good time to test out Chansey's moves. He took out his Pokedex and checked her moves again. Along with showing the move, it also told what it did. Currently, Chansey only knew one move that did damage, but she would learn more with experience.

"Alright, Chansey, you ready to train a bit?" Caleb didn't so much want to train as just get used to Chansey's moves.

" _Chansey!_ " she replied with affirmation.

"Alright, try your Pound attack on that tree!"

Chansey obeyed and smacked the tree that Caleb had parked his bike next to, causing the bike to fall over. Caleb would get it later.

"Good, one more time!"

Chansey smacked the tree again with her hand.

"Cool, that's enough for now." The other moves Chansey knew were moves that would only be helpful in a battle, so he didn't try them out now.

Caleb decided that he better get back on the road. He wanted to reach Viridian Forest before nightfall. Caleb returned Chansey, took his bike, and started to ride again.

Route 2 wasn't as long as some of the other routes in the Kanto Region were. In fact, if Caleb hurried, he may even be able to make it to Viridian Forest and then travel through that a little before the sun would set.

 _Smack_

Caleb felt something hit into the side of him, causing his bike to swerve to the left and throw him off of it. Caleb hit the ground with a thud. He was now questioning if he should even ride his bike anymore after all these accidents.

Caleb sat up to see who had rammed into him. On the ground next to him was a Butterfly-like Pokemon. It was lying face first on the ground.

 _Not again!_ Caleb thought. He ran over to it and picked it up.

"Hey, you alright?" he asked. He had managed to end up running over one Pokemon and ramming into another in just one day. Maybe a cosmic force was telling Caleb that this journey was a bad idea.

Soon, the Pokemon opened its eyes. It looked back at Caleb and nodded its head, signaling it was fine.

"Well, that's a relief," Caleb said as he took out his Pokedex and pointed it at the Pokemon.

" **Butterfree, the butterfly Pokemon. I** **ts wings, covered with poisonous powders, repel water. This allows it to fly in the rain."**

On the bottom of the screen, it said that this Butterfree was female.

The Butterfree eye's lit up as she remembered something important. She flew up into the air and pointed in the direction she had come from.

" _Free, free,"_ she said in a panicked tone of voice and then went into that direction.

Caleb assumed that the Butterfree wanted him to follow her, so he quickly folded up his bike and crammed it into his backpack. He then started to run after her.

After a small jog, Caleb caught up with the Butterfree. She had stopped beside a hill. After looking around, Caleb knew what was going on.

There was another Butterfree who was battling a weird, purple, sludge-like Pokemon. Behind the Butterfree were two Caterpie, most likely the offspring.

"Who's that Pokemon?" Caleb asked as he pulled out his Pokedex and pointed it at the sludge one.

" **Grimer, the sludge Pokemon.** **Made of hardened sludge, it smells too putrid to touch. Even weeds won't grow in its path.** **"**

Just then, the Grimer shot something that looked like poison at the Butterfree, and it hit its mark, sending the butterfly down to the ground.

" _Free!"_ the first Butterfree went down to the second one. The Grimer was now closing in on the Caterpie.

"Hey! Pick on someone your own size!" Caleb yelled. The Grimer turned and looked at Caleb. He turned back towards the Caterpie and continued to go towards them, ignoring Caleb.

"Fine then, you asked for it!" Caleb said as he unhooked his Pokeball off of his belt. "This is our first battle, so let's do it right, Chansey!" he said as he threw the Pokeball. Out of it came the pink, egg carrying Pokemon that had been Caleb's first friend.

" _Chansey,"_ she said while getting into a fighting stance.

"Let's start out with your Pound!"

Chansey ran forward and smacked the Grimer with her fist, which made it recoil. Now it was focused on Caleb. It shot out more sludge like objects, this time at Chasey.

"Chansey, Defence Curl!"

Chansey curled up into a ball, which caused Grimer's attack to bounce right off.

"Now, counter with another Pound!"

Chansey ran up and smacked the Grimer again. The Grimer once again showed signs that the attack hurt, but it wasn't giving up yet. It started to slide over to Chansey very quickly.

"Chansey, Growl!"

Chansey let out a high pitched noise, which caused the Grimer to stop moving and back away.

"One last time, Pound!" Caleb gave the final command. Chansey ran up and hit the Grimer as hard as she could. This time, when the Grimer had recovered, it ran away, back into the planes where it had come from.

"Nice job, Chansey!" Caleb went up and congratulated his Pokemon.

" _Chansey!"_ she was quite proud of it herself.

"But I wonder where it came from…" Caleb wondered. Just then, he remembered the injured Butterfree. He turned around to see the other Butterfree and the two Caterpie around him, with very concerned looks on their faces. He tried to get up, but failed when his wing started to hurt.

"Hang on, I can help you," Caleb said as he took his backpack off and started to rummage through it. After a few seconds of searching, Caleb found a small, purple spray bottle. He went over and knelt down next to the Butterfree.

"Here, this will help the healing." Caleb took the wing and sprayed some of the Potion on it. The Butterfree flinched a little by the stinging, but soon the pain was gone.

"There. You will be good in no time. Just rest that wing for a little bit."

" _Free,_ " he said as an agreement.

"Are you guys hungry? I have some extra Pokemon food if you want it," Caleb offered. The bugs accepted his offer.

Caleb poured some of the food onto the ground and the group of four started to eat. He smiled at the sight. He thought about maybe trying to catch one of them, but, how could he separate such a nice family? Caleb himself decided that he could got for a snack. He took out some chips he had packed and shared them with Chansey.

The butterfree talked about something while they were eating. The female on had a face like she was trying to decide something while the male one had on a serious face. Caleb couldn't understand what they were saying, but Chansey could, and she was really interested in the conversation for whatever reason.

Caleb looked up into the sky and saw that the sun was now a lot lower than earlier.

"Well, I want to get to Viridian Forest before nightfall to continue on my Pokemon journey, so I'll leave you guys here," Caleb said and then started to walk away with Chansey behind him. But he couldn't walk 5 steps before someone touched him on the back. Caleb turned around to see the female Butterfree was the one who had touched him.

" _Journey?_ " a voice appeared in his mind. Caleb was very surprised by this. He looked around, but saw no one else around. The Butterfree must have been the one who talked to him.

"You can talk?" Caleb asked.

" _Psychically,"_ she gave a short answer.

Caleb, now over the fact that she had talked to him, thought about what she had said.

"Journey? You want to come with me on my Journey?"

" _Free,"_ she said out loud with a nod.

"Well, what about your family?" he asked.

The Butterfree turn around and looked at the other three, and they all nodded, telling Caleb that they wanted to her to go as well.

"Alright, in that case, I'd love for you to come with me. Right, Chansey."

" _Chansey!"_ she said in agreement.

Butterfree let out a excited " _Free."_

Caleb took an empty Pokeball out of his backpack and tapped Butterfree with it, sucking her into it. She didn't struggle and was caught instantly. Caleb and Chansey both smiled.

"Come on out, Butterfree," he said and threw the ball up into the air. Butterfree came out of it. "Welcome to our team, Butterf-," Caleb said before being smacked in the head by the Pokeball he had thrown and forgot to catch. Butterfree and Chansey both laughed, and Caleb couldn't help but join in.

After they had said their goodbyes, Caleb, Chansey, and Butterfree all started on the road again. Caleb returned the two and started to ride his bike again, hoping he wouldn't have anymore run ins until he got to the forest.

It was about sundown when Caleb to finally reached to Viridian Forest. Because he didn't want to travel through the forest at night, Caleb decided that he would sleep outside of it and start going through it tomorrow.

Caleb wasn't hungry for dinner, so he let Chansey and Butterfree out of their Pokeballs and gave them some Pokemon food. Caleb didn't expect to capture a Pokemon this early, so he hoped he had enough food to make it through the forest.

As the two Pokemon were eating, Caleb took out his phone and called Prof. Oak. After a few rings, the Prof.'s face appeared on the screen.

"Why, hello there Caleb. What can I help you with?" he asked before taking a bite into a sandwich he was eating.

"Hey Prof. I was calling you because I had a question."

"And what is that?"

"So, I captured a Butterfree, and I think it can talk to me telepathically."

The Prof. took another bite out of his sandwich. "I'm not surprised that it can."

"Really? Is it normal?"

"Well, any Pokemon who can create a psychic connection with an opponent to deal damage can also make that same connection with humans, but to convey a message instead of damage. For example, does your butterfree know Confusion?"

"Here, let me check," Caleb pulled out his Pokedex and pointed it at Butterfree.

Butterfree (F)

Wild: No

Ability: Compound Eyes

Moves: Tackle, Confusion, Poison Powder, Sleep Powder

"Yeah, she does know it."

"See, Confusion is a move that all metapod learn right when they evolve into butterfree. However, because it only makes a weak telekinetic link, they will only be able to speak in one or two words when they speak telepathically."

"Yeah, that's true," Caleb remembered.

"So, when Butterfree's psychic powers get better, she will be able to talk with you better."

"That's cool, thanks Prof."

"That's what I do. So, where are you now?"

"I'm right outside of Viridian Forest. I'm going to go into it tomorrow."

"Remember to be careful. You know what they say about the Forest. It's a natural maze in there."

"I know, but if I'm with my Pokemon, then I'll be fine," Caleb assured him.

" _Chansey!"_

" _Free!"_

"I thought no less," Prof. Oak said with a smile, "Good night, Caleb."

"Good night, Prof."

Caleb thought of calling his mother or father but decided that he would do it some other time.

"So, do you two want to go back in your Pokeballs or stay out here with me tonight?" Caleb asked. Chansey went over and pressed her Pokeball, which sucked her inside of it. Caleb had always wondered what was inside of a Pokeball, that Chansey would prefer sleeping in there than out here, not that he minded.

"What about you, Butterfree?"

Butterfree shook her head, signaling that she wanted to sleep outside with him. She probably wasn't as used to the Pokeball yet.

" _Alright?_ " she asked him. Caleb smiled, went over to her, and patted her on the head.

"Of course it's fine with me."

Caleb got out his sleeping bag and snuggled into it while Butterfree found a tree and flew into that to sleep.

Caleb looked up at the stars before going to bed. He had finished the first day of his journey, and many more exciting days like this one were waiting for him. Caleb fell asleep wondering what the next day may hold.

* * *

 **Thanks for reading.**


	3. Viridian Forest

**Hey and welcome to chapter 3. I don't really have anything to say, so enjoy reading.**

* * *

Caleb woke up with the sun in his eyes. He recoiled a little and turned over in his sleeping bag. He had forgotten that he had slept outside all night. Caleb couldn't fall back asleep with the large sun looming overhead, so he decided to wake up and start to get ready to move out.

After he had gotten dressed, he grabbed some pastries that he had packed out of his bag for breakfast.

 _Hope I have enough food,_ Caleb thought. He had never been good at estimating at all. He looked up to see that Butterfree was still sleeping in her tree and hadn't been fazed at all by the fact that the sun was up. He wasn't heading out quite yet, so Caleb didn't need to wake her right now.

After Caleb was done eating, he released Chansey from her Pokeball.

" _Chansey!_ " she gave a yawn while stretching.

"What say we get an early head start on the forest today, eh Chansey?"

" _Chansey!"_ she said with a nod. Caleb wasn't surprised by this. Chansey always agreed with Caleb no matter what he suggested.

Caleb turned around to go wake up Butterfree, but almost smacked into her because she was right behind him. Caleb stopped himself right before he hit into her. Butterfree looked embarrassed and backed away. Caleb was starting to get the idea that Butterfree was very shy and didn't like getting in people's way.

"Oh no, Butterfree it's alright. I just didn't know you were there, that's all. Are you ready to head out?"

" _Free_ ," she said with a nod.

Caleb went and picked up his backpack.

"You two want to stay out here?" he asked. Both of them nodded, so Caleb, Chansey and Butterfree all went into the forest together.

Caleb had been in the Viridian Forest a few times before, but this was the first time he was going through it alone. Then again, he wasn't truly alone. He was with his Pokemon. Caleb just hoped that he remembered the way out. The forest was quite long and it could take people two weeks to get out if they didn't know where they were going. If his memory held, however, Caleb would be out within a few days.

Caleb always loved traveling through the forest. Hearing the birds chirp, seeing the sunlight flickering through the trees, watching all the bug Pokemon; it was truly an experience that you had to do for yourself. No matter how many times Caleb went through the forest, it was always very refreshing, and this time was no different.

But, however good the scenery was, Caleb's brain couldn't live on it alone for stimuli. Usually he had some of his family with him that he could talk to when he went through the forest. He didn't have his family, but he did have his Pokemon.

"So, Butterfree, why did you decide to join me?" Caleb asked his partner. Up until now, Butterfree had been looking around the forest and staying silent, taking in all of the sights just like Caleb was.

Butterfree didn't answer at first. She stared at the ground while she was thinking of what to say.

" _Always…to see…world…"_ she said slowly.

"You've always wanted to see the world?" Caleb pieced what she said together. Butterfree nodded to signal that, indeed, is what she said.

" _You…nice._ _Decided now…time."_

"I seemed nice, so you decided that now was the time?"

Again, another nod.

"Well, I don't blame you. I've always heard that one of the main reasons to go on a journey is to be with nature and to see all the wonders that it has."

Butterfree gave a " _Free,_ " of acknowledgement and then went back to viewing the forest. It was, after all, the main reason that she had gone with Caleb.

"So, Chansey, are you excited to get to Pewter City?" Caleb asked. He knew that they were still no where near it, but he wanted to gauge how Chansey felt about it.

" _Chansey!_ " she gave out an excited cry, which was exactly what Caleb had expected. After all, Caleb didn't even think it was possible for a chansey to become sad.

"Wonder what type of gym they have or how strong it is. I just started my journey, so I'm not sure that I'm going to be able to beat it."

As Caleb was thinking this, a boy jumped down out of a tree from seemingly nowhere and landed right in front of Caleb. Butterfree was so surprised by this entrance that she dashed behind Caleb.

Once the kid was on the ground, he pointed at Caleb.

"Hey you, are those your Pokemon?" he asked.

"Um…yeah…these two are mine," Caleb replied. He found the boy's clothes rather interesting. He almost looked like he was going on a safari, what with the brimmed hat and the khaki shorts. In the hand that he wasn't pointing at Caleb with was a long butterfly net. After Caleb had given his response, the boy let out a large grin.

"Alright then, let's battle, two on two!" he yelled and ran a few steps away from Caleb. He took off a Pokeball of his belt and threw it. Out of it came a small, caterpillar-like Pokemon that wasn't quite like a caterpie. It was brown and had a horn on its head.

"Wait, I-" Caleb tried to say.

"You're a Pokemon trainer, right?" he interrupted.

"Well, yeah, I guess I techn-"

"Hah! Then you can't say no to my challenge! It's the official rules."

"There are official rules to Pokemon battles?"

"Of course there are! There's an entire handbook written about them. Now come on, are you going to battle me or not?"

Caleb looked back at his two Pokemon. "Alright. I guess." After all, if he wanted to get better, there was nothing better than to practice. Caleb went a sizeable difference away from the boy. He pulled out his Pokedex and examined the Pokemon that he had sent out.

" **Weedle, the Hairy Bug Pokemon. Beware of the sharp stinger on its head. It hides in grass and bushes where it eats leaves."**

"Whoa! Is that a Pokedex?" the boy asked enthusiastically.

"Yeah, it is. I got it from Professor Oak."

The kid was absolutely floored by this.

"You mean _the_ Professor Oak? The world famous Pokemon researcher?"

"One and the same."

"That's so cool! You got to meet _the_ Professor Oak in person. What was he like? Was he cool? Did he know a lot about Pokemon?"

"I think you've forgotten that we are about to battle," Caleb reminded him.

"Oh…right. So…what Pokemon are you going to use?"

"Hey, Butterfree, want to battle?" Caleb asked. He knew that this would be her first battle since she had joined him, so he wouldn't be surprised if she said no. Butterfree, however, nodded her head and got in front of Caleb.

"Whoa! You evolved your caterpie all the way into a butterfree. That's so cool!" The boy finally noticed Caleb's Pokemon.

"Actually, I caught Butterfree as is."

"Oh, really? Well, it doesn't matter, I'll still beat you. Alright, Weedle, use Poison Sting!" he called out without warning. Before Caleb could react, Weedle crawled forward, reared up, and jumped, slamming its horn into Butterfree. She let out a surprised yell and backed away from the attack.

"Butterfree, you alright?" Caleb asked. He didn't expect the attack as much as Butterfree had. She shook it off to signal that she was okay. She didn't have any sign of being poisoned, so Caleb called out his attack.

"Butterfree...uh…how about Poison Powder." Caleb said, more as a suggestion than as a command. He was pretty confident when battling with Chansey, but they had been together a long time. This was only the second day he had been with Butterfree.

Butterfree started to flap her wings harder than she did when she was flying. A small, purple like substance floated off of the wings and covered Weedle.

"Yes! Nicely done Butterfree!" Caleb congratulated. He stopped when he saw that the Weedle didn't even react.

"Hah! Don't you even know that you can't poison a poison type?" the boy mocked. "This will be easy! Weedle, String Shot!"

The caterpillar released a line of string from its mouth and aimed it directly at Butterfree. The string wrapped all around Butterfree, including her wings. Without the ability to flap them, Butterfree was helpless and fell right to the ground.

"No, Butterfree!" Caleb shouted.

"Let's finish this. Weedle, Poison Sting!" the boy shouted while he raised his net to the sky. Weedle ran up to Butterfree to deliver the finishing blow.

"Quick, try Confusion!" Caleb said hastily. Butterfree's eyes started to glow blue and an outline of the same color surrounded Weedle. It stopped charging towards Butterfree and started to be lifted up into the air.

"Wha-How'd you do that?!" the boy asked franticly, his cool and collected attitude now suddenly gone.

"Well done, Butterfree. Now, throw Weedle!"

Butterfree used its psychic power to throw Weedle into a tree, to which it gave out a weak cry of pain before sliding down the tree.

"No, Weedle!" the boy yelled. He frowned and took out a Pokeball. "Weedle, return," he said as Weedle was sucked back into its ball.

"Good job, Butterfree!" Caleb said as he ran over and started to untie the string around her.

" _Free_ ," she said with a smile.

"You were great! That was amazing for your first battle."

The boy looked at his Pokeball and put on a small smile. "Thanks, Weedle. You tried your best." He returned the ball to his belt and his serious demeanor instantly came back. "You're not as bad as I thought you were, but there's no way you're beating me." The boy took off another Pokeball and held it in his hands before throwing it and shouting, "Alright, Venonat. It's your turn!"

Out of the Pokeball came a small and round, purple Pokemon with hair all over its body. It had two large eyes along with two antennae.

After Caleb had untied Butterfree, he pulled out his Pokedex and examined the new Pokemon.

" **Venonat, the Insect Pokemon. Its large eyes act as radars. In a bright place, you can see that they are clusters of many tiny eyes.**

"A Venonat, huh?" Caleb looked back at Butterfree, who was now back to flying. She looked like she could battle again, but Caleb decided against it. "Why don't you sit this one out," Caleb said.

" _Free,_ " Butterfree replied with a nod and returned to the sidelines.

"Alright, Chansey, let's do this!" Caleb called upon her. Chansey was happy that she would get the chance to battle.

"Wait, I've only seen Chansey as nurses. I didn't know that you could use them to battle," the boy said in a surprised voice.

"It's a Pokemon, too, right?"

"Well…I guess so. I've just never seen one in a Pokemon battle." The boy pointed at Chansey, "Doesn't matter. We'll win all the same! Since I had the move first last time, it's your turn."

"K, Chansey, let's go with Pound!" Caleb commanded. Chansey ran up to Venonat with her hand outstretched in an attempt to hit it.

"Counter with Tackle!" the boy yelled. Venonat ran up and slammed into Chansey as she hit her fist into its body. They both recoiled from the other's attack.

"Another Tackle, Venonat!"

Venonat followed orders and charged at Chansey again.

"Defence Curl!" Caleb ordered. Because of Chansey's very flexible body, she was able to tuck her head down and have Venonat's attack bounce right off of her back. Venonat was flung back and landed on the ground. It was quick to get up.

"Alright, try a Tail Whip!"

Chansey turned around and started to wag her tail back and forth, which made her look pretty cute, Caleb had to admit.

"Don't fall for it, Venonat! It's a trick to lower your guard! Use Tackle again!"

Venonat ran forward and smashed itself into Chansey.

"You use Pound, Chansey!" Caleb was really getting into this battle. Chansey turned around and ran at Venonat like before.

"Not so fast!" the boy shouted. "Venonat, Disable!"

Venonat's eyes started to glow blue and Chansey was outlined in blue, just like Butterfree had done to Weedle. But, instead of being launched into the air, Chansey just stood there until the blue around her had dissipated.

"What was that?" Caleb asked to no one in particular. Chansey tried to use Pound and threw a punch, but it didn't work. She just lightly moved her hand through the air. It was like she had totally forgotten how to use it.

Caleb put on a grimace once he realized what had transpired. Venonat's Disable had done just that, disabled Chansey's pound.

 _But that's the only offensive move that Chansey knows_ , Caleb thought. _I've got to think of someway to battle without using Pound now._

"Nice going, Venonat. Now, Supersonic!" the boy called out. Venonat caused high frequency waves to be produced from its antennae. The sound waves hit Chansey, making her close her ears. It wasn't enough, and the Supersonic still got through. After the attack had ended, Chansey was wobbling back and forth. She was confused.

"Chansey!" Caleb tried to call out to her.

"Now, Tackle!" the boy called another attack.

Caleb had to think of something fast. Venonat was moving ever closer to Chansey, and Caleb was running out of time. Then, an idea hit him. He didn't know if Chansey could hear him while she was confused, but it was worth a shot.

"Chasney, grab Venonat!"

Chansey was still wobbling, but when Venonat rammed into her, she grabbed onto it.

"What the-?" the boy stammered.

"Chancey, smash Venonat into a tree!" Caleb commanded. With Venonat in hand, Chansey ran towards a tree and prepared to bash it into the tree. However, because Chansey was confused, when she went to ram Venonat into the tree, she ended up not only smashing the insect, but also her into the tree. Both of them fell to the ground after this.

"No, Chansey!"

"Venonat!"

Both of the trainers ran up to their Pokemon.

"Chansey, are you alright?" Caleb asked. Butterfree had come up behind him to see if Chansey was okay as well.

" _Chansey_ ," she said with a smile. Not even ramming her head into a tree could remove that smile from her face.

"You battled well. Take a good rest." Caleb took out Chansey's Pokeball and returned her to it.

"Venonat, how you feeling?" the boy asked his Pokemon while helping it to its feet.

" _Veno-venonat,"_ it replied weakly.

"You gave it your all, and that's what's important. I'm proud of you." The boy took out his Pokeball and returned Venonat. Then, he stood back up.

"We'll call that match a draw."

"But you don't have anymore Pokemon that can battle, so that means I win the whole battle, right?" Caleb asked because he wasn't too sure himself. The kids confident smile turned to a frown.

"Oh, yeah. Guess that means I lost…"

"It was still a good battle."

"Yeah, I guess it was. Hey, I didn't ask for your name earlier.

"It's Caleb," he answered while shaking hands with the boy.

"I'm Josh. Your Chansey is really strong. There are very few people who can beat my Venonat. Not to say that you weren't any good, Butterfree."

Butterfree blushed a little.

"So, why are you in this forest?" Josh asked.

"I'm making my way to Pewter City."

"Really? I was just about to go back there too."

"Back there?"

"Yeah, Pewter City is where I live."

"Then what are you doing so close to the Viridian side of it?"

"I decided to stay in the forest for a while and be here for a few weeks. I wanted to catch new Pokemon and to train them."

"Cool. So does that mean you'll be travelling with me through the forest?" Caleb asked.

"I don't see why not. It would be cool."

"Hey, Butterfree, are you tired at all? Do you want to rest inside your Pokeball?" Caleb asked. Butterfree thought about it, and afterwards said yes. Caleb returned Butterfree to her Pokeball and the two started to head out into the forest together.

* * *

 **Thanks for reading.**


End file.
